This story was excerpted from Kennedi Landry’s Rangers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
ARLINGTON -- The Rangers’ 2026 season was a disappointment, there’s no getting around that. It was riddled by injuries and underperformance by a number of key players, leading to the club missing out on the postseason by just one game.
But the season wasn’t a gaping black hole. There were still some positives to take away from the first year of the Skip Schumaker era, the biggest being a trio of third- and fourth-year big leaguers -- Jacob Latz, Ezequiel Duran and Justin Foscue -- becoming major contributors down the stretch.
All three were either drafted by the Rangers or acquired early in their professional career to develop within the Rangers system. All three have spent various amounts of time in the big leagues and in Triple-A since making their MLB debuts.
In 2026, they took major steps forward.
“I think it speaks volumes to a couple different things,” said president of baseball operations Chris Young. “One, their resilience as players, and then -- Skip touched on it -- development continuing at the Major League level. It’s the ability to bounce back maybe from early career struggles and find their way with a great staff that's pouring into them, the belief. I think it sets an example for us as something from a development perspective.
“We need to continue to push. … The ability to bounce back and continue to develop at the Major League level is key to having success and creating that extra layer of depth that we need to produce as an organization.”
Here’s a look at those three developmental wins for the Rangers this season:
LHP Jacob Latz
The Jacob Latz story has been well documented this season. The lefty lost the fifth starter job to Kumar Rocker in Spring Training and opened the season in the bullpen before becoming an All-Star closer as the Rangers’ lone representative in the Midsummer Classic.
He’s in a bit of a different position than the other two, just considering how important he was to the big league roster the previous season. That’s the whole reason he was in the rotation competition this spring. In 2025, Latz was a mainstay in the Rangers’ bullpen while also making eight spot starts throughout the season. As a starter, he posted a 2.72 ERA in 39 2/3 innings. As a reliever, he put together a 2.93 ERA in 46 innings (25 games).
In 2026, he finished the season with a 2.13 ERA in 58 appearances and just one start during the first weekend of the season. His 30 saves ranked sixth in the AL and tied for 10th in MLB with Milwaukee’s Trevor Megill.
UTL Ezequiel Duran
Duran saved the Rangers back in 2023, filling in at shortstop for an injured Corey Seager and hitting .349/.393/.627 in June of that season. But he’s never been able to reach those highs since, being relegated to a bench bat and even getting optioned to Triple-A Round Rock a few times.
Nicknamed the Solution, Duran, 27, became one of the best utility players in MLB in 2026, slashing .260/.320/.419 in 153 games, while appearing at every position except pitcher and catcher. He set career bests in nearly every key offensive category -- runs (71), hits (140), doubles (27), triples (4), home runs (17), RBIs (83), stolen bases (12) and walks (46) -- while accruing a career-best and team-high 4.2 bWAR and 4.4 fWAR.
“It's hard to get in rhythm as a bench player and getting spot starts here and there,” Schumaker said of Duran’s development back in September. “Some guys have a lot of trouble keeping their timing and playing once a week or getting pinch-hit at-bats.
“But I think our hitting coaches have been really good for him. I think he's learning the game, learning what pitches to hit, learning his mechanics, learning who he is as a hitter. He's still a young player, if you think about his actual age and games played. That's what's most exciting is him coming into his own.”
2B/DH Justin Foscue
Foscue entered 2026 3-for-51 (.059) in his limited big league appearances, including a brutal 0-for-39 skid to end the 2024 season. He opened the 2026 campaign with Round Rock after an injury cut his Spring Training short and halted his opportunity to make his first Opening Day roster.
Yet Foscue still enjoyed a breakout campaign, setting career highs in games (100), hits (61), doubles (13), home runs (11) and RBIs (34). He finished the season slashing .271/.332/.484 with a 135 OPS+.
But his biggest value came in his ability to hit left-handed pitching. Foscue slashed .324/.395/.586 with eight homers, a triple, 12 doubles and 27 RBIs in 145 at-bats against left-handed pitching, ranking among AL leaders versus southpaws (min. 150 PA) in BABIP (2nd, .398), on-base percentage (.395, 3rd), average (.324, 4th), OPS (.981, 4th) and slugging (.586, 5th). He hit just .175 with a .512 OPS against right-handed pitching.
“Every time I go out there and I do something good, it gives me more confidence that I can play at this. Level,” Foscue said in September. “I can play the role I'm in right now, platooning for left-handed pitching, I'm very comfortable. My goal right now is to just go in there and have a good at-bat, do my thing at the plate.”